MacRumors

Apple Maps has gained indoor maps for an additional four international airports and one shopping mall around the world.

The recently enabled airports include Charlotte Douglas International in North Carolina, Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International and Québec City Jean Lesage International in Canada, and Taoyuan International in Taiwan.

When searching for those airports, Apple Maps users can tap "look inside" or simply zoom in to view terminals, boarding gates, security checkpoints, airline check-in desks, baggage claim carousels, information kiosks, restrooms, stores, restaurants, parking garages, and even escalators, elevators, and stairs.

An indoor map is also now available at the Trinity Leeds shopping center in England, according to Apple's iOS feature availability page.

Indoor maps at shopping malls make it easier to find the exact location of stores, restaurants, restrooms, escalators, elevators, and stairs on each floor. The feature enables users to filter stores by categories, such as clothes, shoes, accessories, beauty, food, and drinks, with detailed place cards for each.

When the feature launched with iOS 11, indoor maps were only available in a handful of airports and shopping malls around the world, but Apple has been steadily adding locations over the past year.

The list includes airports and shopping malls in select cities across North America and Europe, including Baltimore, Berlin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, London, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Portland, San Jose, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, and Washington, DC. The full list can be viewed here.

A new Father's Day-themed Apple Pay Promo is providing customers who spend at least $100 in the Nike app with a $20 gift code, according to emails Apple sent out to Apple Pay customers this afternoon.

The offer is valid from June 7 to June 11 and requires customers to make a $100 purchase using Apple Pay in Nike's app. The $20 code is not provided at the time of purchase, but will be delivered within two weeks of purchase.

The $20 promo code must be redeemed by August 25 on a separate Nike app purchase. Apple is also promoting the Apple Store, StubHub, and Newegg as recommendations for Father's Day.

Apple regularly sends out Apple Pay promotional emails to customers with discounts on a range of products. Recent deals have included $15 off flowers for Mother's Day and 10 percent off furniture from Hayneedle.

Following the release of iOS 11.4 on May 29, Apple has stopped signing iOS 11.3.1, the previous version of iOS that was available to consumers.

iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch owners who have upgraded to iOS 11.4 will no longer be able to downgrade to earlier versions of iOS.

Apple routinely stops signing older versions of software updates after new releases come out in order to encourage customers to keep their operating systems up to date.

iOS 11.4 is now the only version of iOS 11 that can be installed on iOS devices by the general public, but developers can download iOS 12, the next-generation version of iOS that's in beta testing ahead of a fall release.

We've teamed up with Pad & Quill for a special series of WWDC-themed giveaways this week to celebrate Apple's big June event, and our third and final giveaway takes place today.

Pad & Quill, for those unfamiliar with it, is a company that's well-known for making high-quality hand-crafted leather accessories for iPhones, Macs, iPads, Apple Watches, and more.

For our last WWDC giveaway, we're offering MacRumors readers a chance to win a Cartella Slim Case for the MacBook or MacBook Pro, a TechFolio Cord Organizer, and a Lowry Leather Cuff for the Apple Watch.

The Cartella Slim, priced at $100 to $110 depending on size, is available for the 12-inch MacBook, the 2016/2017 13-inch MacBook Pro, and 2016/2017 15-inch MacBook Pro. It's a book-style case, made in a bindery in St. Paul, Minnesota, with a thin front and back cover wrapped in charcoal, cranberry, or gray linen.

All ports, vents, and fans are accessible with the Cartella Slim, and the MacBook attaches to the case using adhesive technology. Because there's no solid frame, the Cartella Slim adds little bulk, but still protects your Mac from bumps, scratches, and minor drops. An elastic band closure completes the book-style look and keeps everything in place when your machine is closed.

The $90 TechFolio Cord Organizer, which can hold all of your MacBook's accessories, is designed to keep all of your cords neatly organized in one easy-to-access place. Like all Pad & Quill products, the TechFolio is handmade from leather and able to hold a ton.

It has three cord organizer pockets, an Apple Pencil slot, a larger zipper pocket for a MacBook charger, two smaller pockets for accessories, and slots for keys or SD cards. All of this folds down into a small package that secures with a rivet closure.

Pad & Quill's Lowry Leather Cuff for the Apple Watch fits the 42mm models and is made from a soft, vegetable-tanned leather with a comfortable suede interior. Priced at $130, it comes in American Tan, Galloper Black or Chestnut, and while it is a cuff design, it leaves the heart rate sensor accessible through a cutout at the back.

The Lowry Leather Cuff fits wrists sized 125 to 215mm, with lugs available to match all of the Apple Watch models.

Today's prize pack includes one Cartella Slim for the MacBook or MacBook Pro, a TechFolio, and the Lowry Leather Cuff. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

The contest will run from today (June 7) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on June 14. The winner will be chosen randomly on June 14 and will be contacted by email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before a new winner is chosen.

As part of its antitrust examination into the T-Mobile/Sprint merger, the US Department of Justice is looking at how the two firms combining would affect smaller wireless carriers that frequently buy network access on larger networks to resell to "pre-paid or price-conscious consumers" according to a report from Reuters.

There are concerns, the report claims, that because Sprint and T-Mobile are more popular for smaller mobile virtual network operator or MVNO carriers looking to resell cellular service to users, a combined firm may result in higher costs for those MVNOs and their customers because of decreased competition.

The Justice Department, which is evaluating T-Mobile’s $26 billion deal to buy Sprint, has been speaking with small wireless operators that buy access to the major wireless networks at wholesale rates, and is seeking their opinions about the merger.

There's no indication yet that this part of the antitrust investigation could cause any issues for the merger, but it does illustrate how complicated these large telecom mergers can be and how many different issues they can affect.

Back in April, Sprint and T-Mobile — the third- and fourth-largest mobile carriers in the US - agreed to combine into a giant carrier with more customers than AT&T. The companies hope to complete the merger by the first half of next year, but have to get approval from antitrust regulators first.

Singer/songwriter Shawn Mendes has broken the latest Apple Music record, with his self-titled third album becoming the most-streamed pop album of 2018 in under one week (via Billboard). Released on May 25, the new Shawn Mendes album was accompanied by a collection of bonus material on Apple Music, including a Beats 1 interview with Zane Lowe, exclusive live concert and Q&A session, playlists, and more.

The previous record holder for most-streamed pop album of 2018 was Justin Timberlake's "Man of the Woods," which launched in February. In the wake of the news, Apple Music confirmed that Mendes has also surpassed one billion global streams on the music service, encompassing his three studio albums, singles, and live recordings.

There have been a few record breaking stories related to Apple Music this year, most recently with rapper J. Cole breaking the record for most album streams in the first 24 hours in the United States. Prior to that, Cardi B's "Invasion of Privacy" set a new record for first-week streams by a female artist on Apple Music, beating Taylor Swift's "Reputation."

According to the last count, Apple Music has over 50 million users total, combining those paying for the service and anyone on a free trial. The last specific paid count sat at 40 million in April, compared to 71 million listeners paying for Spotify.

Apple Music isn't tipped for a major revamp in iOS 12, but beta testers have discovered that artist profiles will be slightly upgraded in the new software with bigger portraits and a handy shuffle-all Play button. Subscribers will also be able to search for some songs even if they only know a snippet of the track's lyrics.

Amazon today unveiled its latest "Fire" branded product, called the "Fire TV Cube." The company describes the device as a hands-free box that streams 4K Ultra HD video using Alexa voice controls. The set-top box appears to have many features similar (or coming soon) to the Apple TV 4K, with 4K HDR content, smart assistant integration, HDMI CEC, Dolby Atmos support, and more.

With far-field voice recognition, one difference between the two devices is that the Fire TV Cube relies on eight microphones embedded into the box to hear users across the room, whereas Apple TV 4K picks up commands solely via the handheld Siri Remote. The Fire TV Cube does ship with an Alexa Voice Remote, however, so handheld commands are also an option.

The Fire TV Cube appears to be similar to HomePod in regard to far-field voice commands, with advanced beamforming technology that suppresses noise, reverberation, currently playing content, and competing voices from other people "to make sure Alexa clearly hears your request."

“We believe voice makes it easier for customers to control their entertainment systems and watch the TV and movies they care about,” said Marc Whitten, Vice President of Fire TV. “And, it’s just the beginning. Amazon Fire TV Cube will only get better over time with the Alexa service always getting smarter.”

Another notable difference is the Fire TV Cube's compatibility with set-top boxes from cable companies including Comcast, DISH, and DirecTV. With the integration, users can ask Alexa to "switch to channel 31" and the Fire TV Cube will speak to the cable box to initiate the command.

With HDMI CEC, users can power their TV sets on and off, with Amazon giving the following example of this interaction: "Even with the TV off, simply say 'Alexa, play Billions on SHOWTIME' and Fire TV Cube powers on your TV and starts playback right where you left off."

Otherwise, the Fire TV Cube has a user interface that Amazon says puts "content forward" and is built around voice control. Commands include "Alexa, find sci-fi movies"; "Alexa, play the trailer"; and "Alexa, show me more results." Users can also initiate searches based on directors and actors.

Additionally, the company optimized Alexa responses for the big screen "with rich visual information," so users can view smart home camera feeds, check out the news, catch up with sports, look at the weather, and more after asking Alexa for each task.

The Fire TV Cube can be pre-ordered today and tomorrow for a special price of $89.99 (for Prime members only), and afterwards the device will cost $119.99. The Cube comes with 16GB of storage, a power adapter, IR extender cable, Ethernet adapter, Alexa Voice Remote, and will begin shipping out to customers on June 21. Anyone who buys the device and registers it by July 1 will get a $10 credit for Prime Video.

Following yesterday's announcement from Sonos that AirPlay 2 will be coming to its speakers this July, more details about the company's partnership with IKEA have now emerged, after first being revealed in December. In a press release shared by the Swedish furniture maker, the two companies detail a "long-term partnership" that's beginning with a new range of speakers called "Symfonisk" (via The Verge).

A few non-functional prototypes of Symfonisk were showcased at IKEA's Democratic Design Day event in Sweden, and the company says that the Wi-Fi speaker system will fully integrate with Sonos' existing products as well as IKEA's own Trådfris smart home line of lights and switches. Of course, Symfonisk will also be compatible with many of IKEA's furniture through a bracket system that can turn the speaker into a shelf or place it under a METOD kitchen cabinet, among other prototyped ideas.

IKEA mentioned that it's still early on in the design process for Symfonisk, so the look and implementation of the speakers could change before they are released sometime "after summer in 2019." Suggested prices were also not yet given.

"Sonos' company culture is very similar to that of IKEA. Our shared values and beliefs made us connect from day one. When the actual work started, we felt that we were the perfect match in every way", says Björn Block, Business Leader for IKEA Home Smart.

"Many people dream of built-in sound systems, but few can afford it. Our goal is for our collective work to save space, get rid of cords, make clutter invisible, and bring sound and music into the home in a more beautiful way", says Björn.

IKEA has already gotten into the speaker market, launching a line of minimalist "Eneby" Bluetooth speakers earlier this year. These devices come in 8-inch and 12-inch sizes, can be both mounted on a wall or displayed on a stand, and are designed to fit in the Kallax and Eket storage systems.

In 2017, IKEA launched the Trådfri Smart Lighting System in the spring, and then debuted HomeKit support for the lighting range in the fall, allowing users to easily integrate their IKEA bulbs and switches into the Home app on iOS. The company got inspired by Apple when it launched a new ad campaign for its Qi charging furniture alongside the debut of Apple's foray into wireless charging with the iPhone X, 8, and 8 Plus in September 2017.

Amazon Prime Video has secured the rights to stream live Premier League football matches for three years from 2019, at no extra cost to Prime members who live in the U.K.

The exclusive deal, announced on Thursday, means that from next year Amazon Prime will show every game from the first round of midweek matches in December and all 10 games on Boxing Day, with weekly highlights of all Premier League matches throughout the season.

The Premier League is the most-watched sports league in the world, and from the 2019/20 season UK Prime members will have exclusive access to watch 20 matches per season, comprising two full fixture rounds – the first December midweek round and the festive Bank Holiday round - featuring live coverage of every Premier League team.

The deal marks the first time a full round of matches will be shown live in the U.K., and while it leaves out the more lucrative weekend games, it shows a big statement from the company, which already broadcasts tennis events like the U.S. Open and ATP World Tour, and NFL games on Amazon Prime Video.

Previously, Sky and BT Sport have shared the rights to the EPL, following an auction in 2015 that saw the broadcasters splash £5.1 billion ($6.9 billion) between them for three seasons. Earlier this year, the Premier League announced that it had sold five out of seven of its U.K. TV packages. BT Sport bought one bundle amounting to 32 games and Sky acquired four bundles, securing 128 matches. BT Sport also secured the last other 20-game TV package, the Premier League confirmed today.

The Premier League remains Europe's most prized live sports broadcast asset and with a growing audience in the U.S., fits in perfectly with Amazon's broader strategy to bring more sports content to its global customers, draw more people to its U.K. Prime membership service, and convert occasional customers into more loyal shoppers. An Amazon Prime membership in the U.K. costs £79 a year or £7.99 a month.

Instagram is gearing up to launch a hub for "longer-form video," according to multiple sources speaking with TechCrunch, in an effort to continue its competition with Snapchat and the "Discover" tab, as well as YouTube.

The dedicated space will feature scripted shows, music videos, and more, which will all be vertically shot and viewable in full-screen 4K on compatible smartphones.

The announcement could come as soon as June 20, and Instagram is meeting with social media stars and other video partners ahead of the reveal.

Videos are expected to be 5-15 minutes in length with a spotlight section highlighting popular videos, and a "continue watching" area for quickly jumping back into videos that users start but don't finish in one session.

Outside of the hub, these longer clips will be able to get featured on the creator's profiles near Stories Highlights at the top. It appears that there will be heavy oversight by Instagram, since creators won't be able to fully shoot and post these longer videos on their own, "as the section will only allow pre-made video uploads."

As of now, no name for the hub or where it will be located in the app have yet to be given. The sources did state that Instagram is planning to let creators eventually earn money off the videos through advertisements.

Instagram is preparing to unveil a home for longer-form video — a YouTube competitor and its take on Snapchat Discover. According to multiple sources, Instagram will offer a dedicated space featuring scripted shows, music videos and more in vertically oriented, full-screen, high-def 4K resolution.

The public shouldn't expect Netflix Originals or HBO-level quality. This is not "InstaGame of Thrones." Instead, the feature is more focused on the kind of videos you see from YouTube creators.

The push into longer videos for Instagram comes after Facebook debuted the "Watch" tab in its own app last year. In Watch, Facebook users can watch original TV shows, jump in on live broadcasts, save items to a watchlist, check out sports coverage, and more.

Snapchat's Discover tab has a "For You" section that highlights the latest Stories from publishers like the NBA, IGN, VICE, The New York Times, and more. Users can subscribe to these creators and get new updates pushed to a subscription box in the tab.

Instagram's long-form video hub will likely take ideas from both of these platforms when it launches later in the summer. Snapchat has had a rocky few months and seen its "slowest user growth rate ever" in the wake of the app's controversial redesign. As TechCrunch points out, "Instagram and its massive user count may be able to seduce publishers to bring longer videos to its app instead," just as it did with users and the Snapchat Stories format in 2016.

Last month, when we asked MacRumors readers what they hoped to see in iOS 12, one of the most frequent requests was improvements to Siri, specifically Spotify integration. Currently, Siri can open streaming media apps like Spotify, but it can't play songs or video from third-party sources.

While Apple has yet to explicitly support the functionality, one of the components in the newly-announced Siri Shortcuts feature in iOS 12 could pave the way for Siri-controlled playback, should Spotify choose to implement it.

Siri Shortcuts lets users connect certain third-party apps to Siri to greatly streamline voice controls, allowing them to connect app-specific actions to an invokable Siri phrase.

As noted by TechCrunch, the Siri Shortcuts feature includes a "Play Media" intent that will let users summon audio and video media from third-party apps, and could theoretically be used to direct Siri on iPhone or HomePod to a designated playlist or artist on Spotify.

It's not yet entirely clear how deep this kind of integration can go, but it's likely to operate much less seamlessly than Siri controls for Apple Music. The Siri Shortcuts that Apple demonstrated during its WWDC keynote for instance were limited to sequential actions across apps, suggesting the "Play Media" intent is a one-off command that relies on specific pre-made shortcuts to playlists, artists, and the like.

Still, in theory, Siri could be used to play an artist or playlist from Spotify, and then the listener could use the standard Siri media playback functions to control the listening experience. But that's still some ways off Siri's existing integration with Apple Music, which extends to individual interface controls and even artist/genre queries.

The other issue of course is that it all depends on whether Spotify chooses to implement Shortcuts, but the new feature in iOS 12 is at least a positive sign that Apple is evolving Siri toward increased compatibility with third-party streaming services.

Apple's latest version of watchOS promises to bring rich HTML content to the wrists of Apple Watch users, thanks to new Webkit optimizations that improve apps like Mail and Messages.

Apple expanded on the new WebKit features at a WWDC session, in which it explained to developers how they can optimize web content for viewing on Apple Watch screens.

Currently in the watchOS Mail app, rich HTML messages are rendered in a text-only format and users are prompted to view the content on another device for the full experience.

Likewise, tapping a URL link received in Mail or Messages directs Apple Watch users to their iPhone to view the web page.

However, in watchOS 5, full HTML emails are capable of being displayed on Apple Watch in cases where text-only formatting can't express the content of the message, and users can also view web page links, as well as interact with them, albeit in a limited way.

For example, turning the Digital Crown on Apple Watch scrolls the HTML content vertically, or users can drag with their finger to move up and down the page, while double-tapping zooms the content in and out, similar to iPhone.

In a Force Touch addition, a firm press on the Apple Watch screen reveals back and forward buttons to navigate through your viewing history (swiping left and right does the same thing).

Apple says it achieved the WebKit optimizations by shrinking the 320-pixel display used by the iPhone SE to fit the 156-pixel width of the Apple Watch display, and then computing the initial scale of the page so that the content width fits within the smaller screen. Basically, this allows text and images to appear smaller while preserving the overall layout of the page.

Apple notes that the optimizations are aimed at quickly consuming content, so some features like video playback and web fonts aren't currently available. However, users will be able to interact with forms within HTML content, and there's also an Safari-like Reader mode, which automatically activates on text-heavy web pages (the Reader Mode option is also accessible via Force Touch, so users can choose to read pages on their watch with extraneous content stripped out).

watchOS 5, due for release in the fall, promises several other improvements and features, including Walkie-Talkie for touch-to-talk communications with friends, automatic workout detection, and updates to the Siri watch face.